a joke is a very serious thing
by earlyable
Summary: Fred and George have come up with the best prank ever and this time… it's not even breaking any rules! Of course, that doesn't mean that the tapestry of the Founders on the fourth floor corridor will ever be the same, but that one was breaking the rules.


**A/N: So this is for the One Word Prompt Competition on the Harry Potter FanFiction Challenges forum here at FF. This is written for the prompt _hat_ and is set before the twins and Dumbledore leave Hogwarts in the fifth book. Hope you all enjoy and please review!**

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Harry, Ron and Hermione were walking down the stairs to the Great Hall for breakfast when they heard one of the Weasley twins call out, "Hey you three, wait up!"

The Trio turned around and looked at the Weasley twins, pausing when they saw what they were wearing. "Umm…" Hermione said after a long moment of silence. "What are those?"

"Oh, you don't remember them?" George started sounding confused.

"Yeah, everyone got one in first year." Fred continued.

"Yes, alright then. But why are you _wearing _them?" Hermione asked while the boys looked on in shock.

"Well, we figured that we didn't want them to go to waste and we wanted to wear them once before we left the school." Fred shrugged and George smirked at them.

"If you three want to join in…" George trailed off, looking at them expectantly. Ron and Harry immediately turned to look at Hermione, begging her with their eyes.

"Well," she mused, still unconvinced.

"It is technically the school uniform," Harry wheedled while Ron nodded supportively.

"Oh fine, get mine while you're up there too." She sighed as the boys sprinted up the staircases to Gryffindor Tower. "This is going to backfire."

"Probably, but it'll be funny-" George continued.

"-and she can't tell us off for it." Fred finished. Hermione shook her head just as the boys came to a halt right in front of her, Ron handing her the item in his hands while Harry fixed up his own.

"Do you reckon we can get other people to join in?" Harry thought aloud, making Fred and George look at each other.

"You guys wait here." Fred instructed while George walked off. "And wait for us to come back. Convince anyone that comes past to do the same." He shouted over his shoulder while running to catch up with George.

The three of them had convinced two Hufflepuff second years, five Ravenclaw sixth years, one Gryffindor first year, an assortment of Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor seventh years and four Gryffindor fifth years as well as most of the people from the DA before Fred and George came back, towing Lee Jordan with them.

"We've managed to convince about thirty to forty people." Ron said excitedly, gesturing to the group wildly.

"Well done, Ronniekins!" Fred exclaimed as George clapped his little brother on the shoulder.

"Shall we go in then?" Hermione said mischievously. Fred and George looked at her in shock.

"Is this Hermione Granger, the prefect?" Fred gasped.

"Encouraging us in a prank?" George joked. Hermione scowled at them as they laughed and high-fived each other.

"We really should get going guys." Lee interjected. "Otherwise breakfast will have finished by the time we get down there."

"Ah, good point friend-" George started.

"-onwards good fellows!" Fred finished, pointing extravagantly in an extremely vague direction that was probably meant to be towards the Great Hall but instead ended up pointing to somewhere near the Greenhouses, and not too near at that.

When they got down to the Great Hall, they were met with silence before the whispers started.

"What the hell are they wearing?"

"I don't even remember using them!"

"Dude, look at Umbridge!"

"I think mine is still somewhere in my trunk!"

Fred grinned at his twin. "Fred, I think we've started a trend."

"George, I think we've done more than that." George grinned back.

"Guys," Harry hissed. "Umbridge is coming." At that, everyone began to head to their various house tables leaving the Weasley twins alone in the doorway. Umbridge was indeed approaching them, followed closely by McGonagall and Dumbledore.

"What," Umbridge hissed at them, "are you wearing on your heads?!" She finished her sentence at a shriek.

"I think we're wearing one plain pointed hat for daywear. What do you think, George?" George asked, pretending seriousness.

"Fred, that sounds like exactly what we have on our heads." Fred responded, also faking his solemn expression.

"Both of you have detention, tonight, my office at five o'clock!" Umbridge was trying to keep her anger in check.

"Professor Umbridge, you can't give them a detention for wearing their school uniforms." Dumbledore said gravely, the twinkle in his eye shining brightly. McGonagall was keeping a straight face but the twins noticed the corner of her mouth twitching. Umbridge let out another shriek before storming out of the Great Hall.

"Now boys, if you would like to continue to the Gryffindor table?" Dumbledore gestured to the table in question before also walking out of the Great Hall. McGonagall walked past the boys and murmured, "Twenty points to Gryffindor for ingenuity. Each."

The twins grinned at each other before running over to where the Trio and Lee were sitting at the table and piling their plates with food. "Did you see Umbridge's face?" Fred enthused, biting into a sausage.

"Yeah, it was brilliant." Harry agreed.

"The best part about it is that she knows you're undermining her authority, but she doesn't know how and she can't give you a detention for it because she can't prove you're doing anything against the rules." Hermione had a particularly nasty grin on her face. The twins looked a bit uneasy until she turned back to her breakfast.

"Aren't you finished yet?" Ron asked surprised.

"No, Ronald. Not all of us eat like pigs." She snapped at him primly. The twins laughed at Ron's sheepish expression before hurriedly finishing what was on their plates.

"Come on, Lee," one of the twins said to their best friend.

"Where are you three going?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Oh you know. Lots to do," Fred said mysteriously.

"I'd recommend keeping away from the fourth floor corridor near the tapestry of the Founders, though." George advised them just before the three boys walked away.

"Why should we be keeping away from the fourth floor corridor?" Harry asked worriedly.

"I don't know, but something tells me when those two tell us not to be somewhere we'd probably be better off not being there." Hermione's tone was grim.

"Yeah, but it'll at least be funny." Ron countered with a smile on his face, no doubt reminiscing about one of the funnier pranks the twins had pulled.

"Yes well, probably," Hermione agreed reluctantly making the boys laugh.

"What've we got first?" Harry asked as they all got up. A bang came from what sounded like the fourth floor corridor near the tapestry of the Founders.

"Charms," Hermione answered, without needing to consult a timetable.

"Better get going then, before the hag comes back and tries to pin something on us." Ron stated and grabbed a piece of toast before running after the other two.

"We'll have to go the long way around." Hermione broke the silence after they had been walking a few minutes and the boys had looked to go one way and she another.

"Why?" The boys asked in unison.

"Well, unless you want to find out what that explosion was…" Hermione trailed off as she walked away and the boys rushed to follow her.


End file.
